Value For Money

jeffgamer's review of Reflexology

Let's start with the good and bad. Reflexology tends to promise the moon. They talk bout being able to diagnose through reflexive technique everything from diseases, to allergies, to which leg is longer than the other. They'll even use to prove the therapy they're using worked. So, it's exciting to see all the promise. I'd love for it to be true just like the next person. It just has some serious problems.
So it works and it doesn't work and if you understand how it works you can separate the truth from the garbage. Chiropractors talk about the science, art, and philosophy. There's usually a physiology based philosophy behind why something might work. There's the double-blind cross-over studies which make up the science of why something works, and then there's the art. The art is nothing more than the song and dance of the treatment. Surgical technique, pill or potion, and in the case of reflexology the way in which the practitioner does the muscle testing. If you've been to as many as I have you've seen a lot of different techniques all claiming there method is the best. But how do they decide which technique is best. Clinical experience. From clinical experience we get a lot of rumor. It's one step above a testimonial. So what's the good science here? Well, there are studies telling us how the placebo effect can improve or decrease muscle strength. But, it is very much based on the strength of faith for both the patient and the doctor. If the doctor's having a bad day or the patients not believing, none of it works. Try it, don't believe and it won't work. The technique they use is artistic, don't get caught up thinking one is better than another. I'm not against faith based medicine, how can any scientist be with the plethora of information on placebo? But I can think of several therapies which use this same science in a more upfront (and therefore more honest) art form. If this works for you, then keep the faith. If you're looking for spiritual healing though, there are other ways which are stronger due to their focus on calling it spiritual healing. Try it for yourself, you'll discover it's just as easy to block as it is to accept. That taints it as a diagnostic tool. And it's just not the best healing tool for this area of medicine.